Changing Educational Practices: An Ethnographic Study of How Schools Have Changed

• Main Author: Allen, Sharon M
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 01.04.1996
• Subjects: Elementary Secondary Education; Family Programs; Family School Relationship; High Risk Students; Integrated Services; Preschool Education; Project Head Start; Public Schools; School Community Relationship; Social Services

Federal funding of the National Head Start/Public School Transition Demonstration Project (NTP) is one of the ways in which the federal government has worked to put the National Education Goals into practice. South Dakota is one of the 31 sites that receive comprehensive NTP services. Family service coordinators (FSCs) provide services at the South Dakota Head Start/Public School Transition Demonstration Project (SDTP). This paper presents findings of an ethnography that identified barriers to and characteristics of successful implementation of NTP services. Data were gathered from observation; analysis of school and community documents; analysis of FSC journals; and a total of 300 interviews conducted with FSCs, principals, teachers, and parents. Barriers to implementation included resistance by some teachers or schools to change, communication problems, transportation, and dissemination of information to families. However, the program improved school-home communication, increased parental involvement in their children's education, and increased the use of developmentally appropriate practices. (Contains 51 references.) (LMI)